Very short version: National Review Online’s Kevin Williamson caught Alternet (and later, Salon) publishing an article where it was claimed that the five richest Members of Congress each had a net worth greater than countries like Peru, Greece, and Hong Kong*. Once this got caught by horrified pundits across the political spectrum, Alternet and Salon quietly scrubbed this claim (which was based off of a remarkably bad interpretation of a Wikipedia article**) without owning up to it (at least, they haven’t yet, at 1 PM Eastern time). The interesting*** question then becomes How in God’s name did everybody miss that, at either website?(more…)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — U.S. economic growth in the third quarter was much weaker than the previously estimated, according to the government’s final reading released Tuesday.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation’s economic activity, grew at an annual rate of only 2.2% in the three months ending in September. A month ago the estimate was growth of 2.8%, and the initial reading in October was more robust growth of 3.5%.

See Megan McArdle and Ed Morrissey for some analysis (short version: the economy sucks, and the ‘growth’ was a one-off involving that absurd Cash For Clunkers program). About all I can say is that at least it’s still positive; and that hopefully it, coupled with a 4Q GDP taking advantage of the Christmas season, will still be enough to maybe convince American consumers to fuel a recovery.